Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

 6 months to
9 Jan 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 335 326 307
Rank change year-on-year -9 -19 -5
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 253 214 317
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.67% 0.75%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.76% 0.72% 0.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 141 223
10th Percentile £150 £143 £130
25th Percentile £156 £175 £141
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £210 £200
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +5.00% -
75th Percentile £238 £238 £225
90th Percentile £275 £250 £275
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £210 £200
% change year-on-year -16.67% +5.00% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 16 14
10th Percentile £16.25 - £18.15
25th Percentile £19.54 £22.50 £18.61
Median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £19.75
Median % change year-on-year -16.54% +22.43% +5.33%
75th Percentile £24.44 £27.94 £21.31
90th Percentile £31.40 £30.68 £23.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £20.00
% change year-on-year -16.54% +20.90% +11.11%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 33,508 29,606 39,607
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.31% 92.68% 93.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,195 18,121 26,431
10th Percentile £300 £291 £281
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £479 £500
% change year-on-year -0.89% -4.15% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,969 900 1,622
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.52 £14.18
25th Percentile £18.22 £21.05 £19.06
Median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.46% -26.97% +34.85%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.24 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.46 £73.75 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.50 £45.11
% change year-on-year -20.16% -30.16% +67.04%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 9 January 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
England -8 232 £195 -8.24% 65
UK excluding London -22 186 £175 -16.67% 65
London -6 61 £200 - 7
North of England -30 44 £175 -20.45% 12
Midlands -15 39 £175 -14.63% 8
South West -4 34 £225 - 12
East of England -6 32 £195 -2.50% 8
East Midlands -2 26 £175 -44.66% 6
North West -20 25 £175 -16.67% 4
South East -35 24 £173 -13.50% 19
West Midlands -30 13 £175 -6.54% 2
North East -3 11 £175 - 1
Wales +7 10 £160 -27.27% 2
Work from Home -24 9 £163 -34.34% 3
Yorkshire -46 8 £165 -25.84% 7
Scotland -14 5 £123 -15.00% 4
Northern Ireland -12 3 £200 +31.15% 1

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 9 January 2026, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 149 (58.89%) Windows
2 117 (46.25%) Microsoft 365
3 104 (41.11%) Microsoft
4 97 (38.34%) Customer Service
5 90 (35.57%) Active Directory
6 84 (33.20%) Security Cleared
6 84 (33.20%) Windows 10
7 83 (32.81%) SC Cleared
8 57 (22.53%) Microsoft Office
9 46 (18.18%) ITIL
10 42 (16.60%) Mac OS
11 41 (16.21%) Azure
12 39 (15.42%) Android
12 39 (15.42%) Microsoft Intune
13 38 (15.02%) Cisco
14 37 (14.62%) SAP
15 36 (14.23%) Business Intelligence
15 36 (14.23%) Digital Marketing
15 36 (14.23%) Programme Management
16 34 (13.44%) HP
16 34 (13.44%) Microsoft Exchange
16 34 (13.44%) SCCM
16 34 (13.44%) SLA
16 34 (13.44%) Wireless
17 33 (13.04%) Dell
18 31 (12.25%) Service Management
19 30 (11.86%) Migration
20 28 (11.07%) Apple
20 28 (11.07%) Problem-Solving
20 28 (11.07%) Service Delivery

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 34 (13.44%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (10.67%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.40%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 57 (22.53%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (5.93%) Spreadsheet
3 14 (5.53%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.40%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.79%) assyst
2 1 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 117 (46.25%) Microsoft 365
2 41 (16.21%) Azure
3 16 (6.32%) OneDrive
4 11 (4.35%) Entra ID
5 2 (0.79%) Google Workspace
6 1 (0.40%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 34 (13.44%) Wireless
2 17 (6.72%) VPN
3 14 (5.53%) DNS
4 13 (5.14%) PABX
5 11 (4.35%) DHCP
6 9 (3.56%) Skype
7 8 (3.16%) Cisco IOS
7 8 (3.16%) TCP/IP
8 5 (1.98%) Structured Cabling
9 4 (1.58%) Firewall
9 4 (1.58%) LAN
10 3 (1.19%) Softphone
10 3 (1.19%) VLAN
10 3 (1.19%) WAN
11 2 (0.79%) Telepresence
11 2 (0.79%) Unified Communications
11 2 (0.79%) Wi-Fi
11 2 (0.79%) WLAN
12 1 (0.40%) IP Telephony
12 1 (0.40%) Network Security
Development Applications
1 2 (0.79%) JIRA
General
1 117 (46.25%) Social Skills
2 73 (28.85%) Finance
3 43 (17.00%) Public Sector
4 39 (15.42%) Telecoms
5 37 (14.62%) Manufacturing
6 36 (14.23%) Electronics
6 36 (14.23%) Marketing
7 29 (11.46%) Analytical Skills
8 12 (4.74%) Banking
9 9 (3.56%) Retail
10 7 (2.77%) Aerospace
10 7 (2.77%) Front Office
11 6 (2.37%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (2.37%) Law
12 4 (1.58%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (1.19%) Investment Banking
13 3 (1.19%) Legal
13 3 (1.19%) Pharmaceutical
14 1 (0.40%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.40%) Retail Banking
Miscellaneous
1 30 (11.86%) Self-Motivation
2 29 (11.46%) Smartphone
3 25 (9.88%) Data Centre
4 12 (4.74%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.95%) Mobile App
6 9 (3.56%) iPad
6 9 (3.56%) iPhone
7 8 (3.16%) Management Information System
8 7 (2.77%) Video Conferencing
9 5 (1.98%) Hybrid Cloud
9 5 (1.98%) Virtual Team
10 4 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (1.19%) Hedge funds
12 2 (0.79%) Driving Licence
12 2 (0.79%) Tandem
13 1 (0.40%) BYOD
13 1 (0.40%) Data Protection Act
13 1 (0.40%) Fat Client
13 1 (0.40%) Legacy Applications
13 1 (0.40%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 149 (58.89%) Windows
2 84 (33.20%) Windows 10
3 42 (16.60%) Mac OS
4 39 (15.42%) Android
5 19 (7.51%) Apple iOS
6 13 (5.14%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.19%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.79%) Windows 8
8 2 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.40%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (38.34%) Customer Service
2 46 (18.18%) ITIL
3 36 (14.23%) Business Intelligence
3 36 (14.23%) Digital Marketing
3 36 (14.23%) Programme Management
4 31 (12.25%) Service Management
5 30 (11.86%) Migration
6 28 (11.07%) Problem-Solving
6 28 (11.07%) Service Delivery
7 25 (9.88%) Time Management
8 21 (8.30%) ITSM
8 21 (8.30%) Workflow
9 17 (6.72%) Continuous Improvement
9 17 (6.72%) Inventory Management
10 15 (5.93%) Mobile Device Management
11 14 (5.53%) Logistics
11 14 (5.53%) Patch Management
12 13 (5.14%) Workflow Management
13 12 (4.74%) Incident Management
14 11 (4.35%) Asset Management
Programming Languages
1 16 (6.32%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 84 (33.20%) Security Cleared
2 83 (32.81%) SC Cleared
3 15 (5.93%) Degree
4 14 (5.53%) ITIL Certification
5 6 (2.37%) A+ Certification
6 5 (1.98%) Microsoft Certification
7 4 (1.58%) BPSS Clearance
7 4 (1.58%) DBS Check
8 3 (1.19%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 2 (0.79%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (13.44%) SLA
2 7 (2.77%) GDPR
3 6 (2.37%) QA
4 1 (0.40%) COBIT
System Software
1 90 (35.57%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.53%) Virtual Desktop
3 4 (1.58%) Firmware
4 1 (0.40%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.40%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.40%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 39 (15.42%) Microsoft Intune
2 34 (13.44%) SCCM
Vendors
1 104 (41.11%) Microsoft
2 38 (15.02%) Cisco
3 37 (14.62%) SAP
4 34 (13.44%) HP
5 33 (13.04%) Dell
6 28 (11.07%) Apple
7 25 (9.88%) ServiceNow
8 9 (3.56%) McAfee
9 7 (2.77%) Bloomberg
10 6 (2.37%) Starlink
11 4 (1.58%) Remedy
12 3 (1.19%) Citrix
12 3 (1.19%) VMware
13 2 (0.79%) Google
14 1 (0.40%) Altiris
14 1 (0.40%) Barracuda Networks
14 1 (0.40%) CrowdStrike
14 1 (0.40%) SolarWinds
14 1 (0.40%) Trayport
14 1 (0.40%) Veeam
71 Desktop Support jobs Nationwide